The present invention relates to dental floss dispensers, and in particular to a case having a spool wound with floss.
Dental professional generally agree that regular flossing promotes dental health. Consequently, people often want to floss their teeth away from home. Carrying dental floss is inconvenient when the carrying container is relatively bulky. The case in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,059 contains a spool of floss. This case is relatively bulky and is not conveniently carried by a person.
Known floss dispensers are not easily stored in a wallet or purse. Commercially available dispensers are relatively thick and use space for features such as a hinged lid. Using a lid to protect the floss is desirable, but not when space is at a premium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,755 shows a relatively thin dental floss dispenser. The floss and its cutter are exposed in this design. Consequently the floss can get dirty and become tangled when placed in a wallet or purse. Also exposing the cutter can cause unintended damage to a wallet, purse or the cutter itself. Furthermore, this dispenser uses a floss cutter at an awkward position. The cutter has a cutting blade and a spaced floss holder to allow the cutting. It would be desirable to combine the cutting and holding feature into a single unit.
In addition, this dispenser encloses a free spiral of floss. Since the floss lacks a spool, the clearance about the faces of the spiral must be kept small, otherwise the spiral will collapse. Thus without a spool the floss can easily tangle. The floss can also get wedged in a corner of the case and stop rotating. The dispenser will then either jam or floss will feed across the face of the locked spiral. This cross-wise feed twists the floss and can cause loops or knots. If the floss twists as it passes the face of the spiral, jamming is likely, even without the feared looping and knotting.
Other known floss dispensers include a floss cutter in the form of a tab partially cut and folded away from a piece of sheet metal. The tab is angled from the sheet metal to form a junction for catching and cutting the floss.
Other dispensers and holders for dental floss are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,210,205; 1,454,429; 3,804,102; and 4,657,034 as well as Design U.S. Pat. Nos. 211,880; 243,187; 245,713; 255,388 and 266,279.
Accordingly, there is a need for a floss dispenser that is compact, reliable, and easily used.